The Chicago Bulls to face off against the Toronto Raptors in the play-in tournament
The Chicago Bulls have narrowly evaded the play-in tournament for the past few years leading up to this season. Heading into this year, believe it or not, there was hope! Lonzo Ball was supposed to come back, Andre Drummond was signed, Alex Caruso and the rest of the team were getting healthy.
Many experts and analysts around the NBA thought the Chicago Bulls would be a threat to do at least a little damage in the Eastern Conference, but they were very wrong.
Fast forward a few months and a lot has changed. Lonzo Ball is now questionable for NEXT season, the roster has changed a bit, and now the future is very uncertain. Things went so poorly this season that the Bulls barely squeaked in as the ten seed and will be traveling to Canada to take on the Raptors in the 9-10 elimination game. DeMar DeRozan has a chance to play the villain role against the team he spent nine seasons with.
The Bulls are led by the high scoring duo of DeRozan and Zach LaVine, who each averaged about 25 points per game this past regular season. Center Nikola Vucevic was also a huge contributor to the team’s ‘success’, if that’s what you want to call it. He averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds per game and appeared in all 82 games of the regular season.
In order to beat the Toronto Raptors and move on, the Chicago Bulls must keep these three keys in mind.
1. Take the crowd out of the game, early
Toronto is one of the hardest places to play in the NBA, and Jurassic Park will be in full effect on Wednesday for this play-in game. The home court advantage for the Raptors is evident as this season they went 27-14 in Canada, as opposed to their bad 14-27 road record. This isn’t an easy place to take a victory, especially in the playoffs.
In the regular season, the Chicago Bulls were taken down by Toronto twice. Granted those matchups are from months ago, and Pascal Siakam missed two of those games, they’re still nice for reference.
- Nov. 6, 2022: Raptors 113, Bulls 104
- Nov. 7, 2022: Bulls 111, Raptors 97
- Feb. 28, 2023: Raptors 104, Bulls 98
Final rankings
Bulls
Offensive rating 112.8 (24th)
Defensive rating 111.5 (5th)
Net rating +1.3 (13th)Raptors
Offensive rating 114.6 (13th)
Defensive rating 113.1 (T-10th)
Net rating +1.5 (12th)— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 10, 2023
The Chicago Bulls really need to come out with a high-level intensity in order to stay in this game. The Raptor defense is pretty superb as it currently sits ninth in the league in defensive rating. It’s led by forward OG Anunoby and newly acquired center Jakob Poeltl, as the length and size of this team can be tough to deal with.
They also have more willing defenders like Scottie Barnes and Siakam that already have playoff experience, which is extremely valuable. The length will be a huge problem for Chicago, but this team needs to worry about taking the crowd out of the game as soon as possible. If the Bulls get down by 10-12 points in the first quarter, it could be a long night.
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